Henman is seeded higher than Hewitt

Tim Henman was today seeded 11 for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, which gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.

The British No1 missed the tournament last year through injury but has been in impressive form of late, with victory at the Paris Masters in October being followed by a semi-final appearance in Doha last week.

In the list of men's and women's seeds released today, each was topped by the respective world number ones in Andy Roddick and Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Henman is one place behind Mark Philippoussis, but four spots higher than the other leading Australian hope, former world No1 Lleyton Hewitt.

Neither Australian has made it past the fourth round at their home Grand Slam.

Roddick was a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park last year and went on to enjoy a sensational season, winning the US Open and, at 21, becoming the youngest American to finish the year as world number one in the history of the world rankings.

Behind him is Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, seeded second, followed by French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Defending Australian Open champion Andre Agassi is seeded fourth and chasing a fifth title in Melbourne after his victories in 1995, 2000, 2001 and 2003.

At 33 years and eight months, Agassi is the oldest direct entry in the men's draw.

The American confirmed his form for the Open by thrashing Federer 6-2, 6-4 at the Kooyong International tournament in Melbourne today.

While Federer is the favourite of the bookmakers, Agassi's overwhelming victory left few who witnessedthe match in much doubt about who was in the better form.

Agassi said: "Today we had a little less wind. It was pretty calm.

"I felt like I did a lot of things well today. I can take a lot from that. You have to take your chances against Roger because he has such a feel for the game and has such great weapons.

"You can't hope for better preparation than to play the world's best players coming into the first Grand Slam of the year."

Federer said: "He is tough to play on any day. If you don't play well, it is not enough and that is what happened today. I really have to go out on the practice courts because there are a few things I am not happy with." In the Sydney International, Hewitt beat France's Arnaud Clement 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

The women's draw for Melbourne has been blighted by a host of big-name withdrawals, with defending champion Serena Williams and the winner for the two years before that, Jennifer Capriati, both out injured.

Mary Pierce, the 1995 champion, and Jelena Dokic have also withdrawn, while Belgian Kim Clijsters has been seeded second despite a doubt over an ankle injury.

Henin-Hardenne is top seed after a fine year in 2003, in which she reached the semi-final or better in 18 of the 19 tournaments she entered, winning both the French Open and US Open. She has an injury worry herself, spraining an ankle during a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Chanda Rubin in Sydney.

In the same tournament, Lindsay Davenport, the fifth seed for the Australian Open, strained a shoulder muscle before going on to beat Russia's Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-4.

Venus Williams replaced her sister Serena as third seed despite not having played a competitive tournament since losing the Wimbledon final in July.

The draw for the Australian Open will take place at Melbourne Park tomorrow.